Book review: How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything

How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the Pentagon by Rosa Brooks is a wonderfully-written, informative book about the bloated military, its mission creep, and the under-funding of other parts of the government such as the State Department. The book comes with hearty recommendations from General James Mattis, General Stanley McChrystal,…

Lobbying Adam Smith for a sane military budget

According to OpenSecrets, in the 2017 – 2018 campaign cycle, Rep. Adam Smith (D – WA, 9th CD) received contributions of $111,950 from Defense Aerospace corporations, $97,200 from Defense Electronics, and $74,000 from Miscellaneous Defense, for a total of $283,150 from defense related industries. This number includes both direct campaign contributions and PAC contributions. Top…

Balance our Tax Code

https://balanceourtaxcode.com/ has a petition to balance our unfair, regressive tax code. Washington’s tax code is upside down. Washington’s tax code is the most upside down in the nation. Powerful special interests have rigged the system so the rich get richer while working families pay more and more. In Washington, those making the least pay 18%…

Quickie link: I Have Seen the Future of a Republican Party That Is No Longer Insane

I Have Seen the Future of a Republican Party That Is No Longer Insane In my one opportunity to offer a comment, I helpfully suggested that the Republican Party as currently constituted needed (this is a direct quote) “to die in a fire.” The surprising thing is that many of the attendees in the room,…

Quickie link: The Golden Age of Rich People Not Paying Their Taxes

The Golden Age of Rich People Not Paying Their Taxes “An eight-year [Republican-led] campaign to slash the IRS’s budget has left the agency understaffed, hamstrung, and operating with archaic equipment. The result: a hundred-billion-dollar heist.” I have a friend who works as an examiner for the IRS; he said the same thing: they’re woefully understaffed…

Southern Poverty Law Center: Rep. Matt Shea funding far-right hate groups

“Embattled conspiracy theorist and Washington state Republican Rep. Matt Shea has been skirting Washington state law to funnel campaign contributions to far-right nonprofit groups in Colorado and Arizona, a Hatewatch investigation reveals.” Embattled Washington Rep. Matt Shea is skirting state law to funnel campaign funds to far-right groups   (Related: Spokane GOP leader authors ‘Biblical…

The Nation article on the Pentagon’s massive fraud and waste

See The Nation article Exclusive: The Pentagon’s Massive Accounting Fraud Exposed: How US military spending keeps rising even as the Pentagon flunks its audit. or download and listen to this audio Inside the Pentagon: First-Ever Audit Exposes Massive Accounting Fraud. For exampe: [T]here were no ledger entries or receipts to back up how that $6.5…